Ericandblueboy

Khoa quit because he can't stand all the bickering between the losers (he was on the losng team). He looked like he was going to cry the whole time.

Didn't take much to make him cry "uncle."

The restaurant was very accomodating to our huge group but I think the food may have suffered a little because of our group size? I truly enjoyed only 1 dish tonight (pork shoulder I believe). Everything else was on the tough and chewy side: pork belly, beef, octopus, and intestines. I actually thought the intestines were kind of gross because they tasted just like intestines (guess that means I only like non-intestine-like tasting intestines....) Oh yeah, we got some Hite beer. When we looked over at another table (presumably Koreans), they were drinking Coors Light. Incidentally, both beers have the temperature ready label (if the label is blue, it's at the right temperature). Despite all my complaining, it was a cultural experience. The place was packed on a Tuesday night. Korean pop music wafted through the air and we all left smelling like we could use a shower.

Getting yourself ready for a night out with Paris Hilton?

That goes for just about every post I've read from him/her.

I'm happy to go there for brunch Sun 3/15. No chance that I'll ever make it there on a weekday night.

Third Thai meal in the span of a week. I started last week at Paya Thai, then Nava Thai, ending at Neisha Thai. If "Thai" wasn't in a restaurant's name, is it still Thai food? The spring rolls were good, stuffed with purple cabbage with a nice thin crispy wrapper. The five sauces (soy, hot sauce, chili powder, soy with chili peppers, and vinegar with chili peppers) were fun to experiment with. This is what kills me, 3 smallish spring rolls were $5.75. Have spring/egg-rolls prices gone up everywhere without me noticing or are Thai restaurants just more expensive (Paya Thai also didn't have an appetizer under $6, IIRC)? I tried the POO GOONG OBB WOON SEN - shrimp cooked with cellophane noodles, shitake mushrooms and vegetables topped with crabmeat and served in a clay pot with sweet lime dressing on the side ($12.95). The portion was decent, the shrimp overcooked (never had shrimp that's not overcooked in a clay pot anywhere, frankly, why cook shrimp this way?), the noodle flavorful. You end up eating lots of shredded ginger since that's mixed in with the noodle.

Quick questions - do they accept reservation and will we need reservation for early Saturday evening (around 6 p.m.)? How's the parking situation? valet? street parking?

Thanks, that gives me a good idea of the portion size. It just sounds like so much food....

Did you manage to eat all that food or were there leftovers?

D'Acqua wasn't particularly good with the fry platter of calamari, zucchini and eggplant. The seasoning was fine but the frying was oily and limp. The sea urchin was listed at $94 a pound but fortunately the sea urchin pasta only cost $24 (I was sweating bullets for a little while). The rockfish was listed at $99/lb and even the tilapia was $34/lb (pretty expensive!). The urchin pasta turned out well but after having it twice (I liked it better than Corduroy's, only because there's no distracting seaweed), I'm ready to take a break. Next time I go to Le Bernadin, I'll have to try Ripert's version with caviar. My wife enjoyed her shrimp & prosciutto and her fettucine bolognese. Very good meal with very good service, but with the $10 valet parking, this place is more expensive overall than its competitors.

The Floating Market Noodle Soup came out very hot today and very salty (they did not ask how spicy I wanted it). I thought the meatballs tasted delicious, although they were similar to the ones found at Pho joints even though I think they're made in-house. The pork rinds were also good, after being softened by the broth. I didn't finish the noodle or the soup because it was extremely hot and salty. I was sweating, my nose was running, and I was choking. I also had two more dishes, although they didn't show up until I finished picking through my noodle soup. I ordered the crispy pork with chinese broccoli and tilapia in chili sauce. The pork was fried so the skin turned into pork rind, which adds a nice crunch but I think the meat itself was a little overcooked. The fish was fantastic, lighted battered and then cooked in a fairly spicy chili sauce with a hint of sweetness. I use think I didn't care for Thai food but Nava Thai definitely gave me a new outlook.

Well, fluck me then, maybe I'll go to Sushi Sono with my not so trustworthy sidekick miniature husky.

Tomorrow's off. I'll go Sunday at 12:45 if Daniel is up for it.

Anyone? anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

My preference is 11 or 11:15 a.m. Sat morning. We're sure to get a table then and we can eat leisurely. Who else is in?

The time is nigh! Let's hash out a plan lest my stomach be bereft of dim sum this weekend.

I'm flexible. I can eat later on Sunday or go on Saturday (but it has to be on the early side on Saturday, because we're going to D'Acqua at 6 p.m. Gotta give my stomach time to digest the dim sum).

I like mixing it up, so how about New Fortune (in Gaithersburg right)? The place is so big you don't need reservation on weekend. 11:30ish?

I'm interested in brunch this Sunday. You got any suggestions? I've never been to Nava Thai. I could go to North China or Joe's Noodle. I can even go eat some Korean porridge!! Of course I have no problem eating some chicken feet either. When and where?

We were married in San Juan last year and we thought the bio-bay is really cool. We did a combo tour of El Yunque & bio-bay in the same day.

I guess Vidalia is definitely not a top 3 restaurant in DC then.

Saw this on their website. Sounds really cheap for a 4 course meal. Restaurant Week was 3 courses for $35. I'm actually kind of scared to go there now on Sat.

I'll be happy to tag along.

Had an interesting brunch here today. I started with a combination rice cake platter (S.4 Bánh Huê Dac Biet) which consisted of the following: Bánh Bèo - Steamed thin-rice-cakes with shredded shrimp (bland and boring, the shredded shrimp didn't add much flavor) Bánh Ít Ram - Steamed-flour cakes stuffed with shrimp on crunchy rice cakes (this tasted good but the crunchy rice cake was deep fried in not so fresh oil). Bánh Uot thit Nuong - Grilled pork, mint, lettuce & bean sprout wrapped in steamed rice-flour-sheet (really tasty grilled pork). Shrimp patty - fairly tasty shrimp paste The platter comes with (i) fish sauce like the ones served with Vietnamese spring rolls, (ii) a different fish sauce with chili peppers that's not sweet, (iii) a purplish peanut sauce with a hint of sugar, (iv) a container of hot sauce (much hotter than Sriracha), and (v) a container of purplish gray crab or shrimp paste. The crab/shrimp paste is definitely an acquired taste. Very very salty and fishy. I didn't much like the peanut sauce either. I ended up dipping my rice cakes mostly in the chili that's already on the table. I like rice noodles but not the concept of it being the main feature. (I also don't go nuts over congee). I followed that with a bowl of Bún Bò Huê - beef noodle soup with round rice noodle (it's thick and round, almost like udon) with sliced beef shank and pork patty. The soup is flavored quite differently from pho, wth lots of herbs that tastes slightly medicinal to me. I was not a fan of the soup and didn't care for the noodles either. If you never try central Vietnam cooking, I don't think you're really missing out much.